SILVER EXCITEMENT IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

Inangahua Times, Volume X, Issue 1616, 21 October 1885, Page 2

SILVER EXCITEMENT IN NEW SOUTH WALES.

I *- The Sydney Telegraph gives the ; following particulars of the Wiseman's ; Creek rush, which has caused some i excitement in New South Wales: — Wiseman's Creek, where, as onr t:'lo.»rams announced, the. disiviverv of silver and the consequent rush to rake ■ up claims Ir.is taken place, is about 16 ; miles from Batlumst. 14 fro..j Brewongle,the, saim-tlistanee from Rockley. and as the crow flies about 28 miles | south from Sunny Coiner. Tiie settlp 1 inent at present consists of hut three, lor four houses all told, and in the ' absence of an hotel affords little i accommodation for visitors. Wiseman's Creek is in the neighbourhood of the well known O'Connell Plains, a rich i agricultural district, from whence <o the creek the country gradually Incomes more mountainous, till at length at the creek one t'.'uls oneself right in | the rangers. Concerning the rush, it | certainly promises to be of rather a | serious nature, every allotment where [ a future town might be expected to spring up being pegged out, and leases taken up for miles. One great point of advantage to prospectors and to the genera! value of the mining claims is in the matter of water, as thus far it is claimed that the creek has never known to run dry. As regards the early history of the district, a gold rush some 20 y°ars ago was the means of first bringing it into public notice, and sold has since lieen taken out in very payable quantities. As the alluvial, however. w;is worked out, "oldtuining was gradually abandoned, though it wouM seem that no very exhaustive search was ever made for re«fs. When the copper mania swept through the country prospectors found traces of copper, and a company was formed to work a copper mine, a smelter l»eing actually erected on the ground. In the copper mining days the land was originally owned by Messrs Morgan and Thompson, of Sydney and Bathurst, who with se'^ial others, formed a company and worked the ground. But the vein of copper was small, at all events not large enough to pay, and running side by sile was found some other mineral, whuh when tried for copper was pronounced of no cotnaicr-

cial value. Yet this very ore turns O'lt to bo tll^ si ver «rfl of the present lay ; and though c- ; vnly copper Wis :\ »t obtained i i pay in 4 qri mtitiej eve 1 at the then ruliig piices, no dou'ut wrh'-n *h« Abandoned ore is treated for , silver it w II pay we!' vnon-jb, pa tieu- ' • !y as lead is present in s-.iili -ieut quantity to stm-lt the or»». To give r*olHi J t>l>f idiM ■•>{" ■':! WIV in which the i-sm,".c^ of i- v ,-. • ; ; V i'twas discovered, w may su*- ! lit some 12 mortis a-,'" a p •..< c k»r named N^acasikiy oir a' Sim y C:» .nrr was struck with rh,> -u>t : !:Kirv !-i app arance letwwn »!ie ?j face «• •;. of Wiseman's Oi'^'-k md tbit >f Swr.y Corner, ancl in rnnv ■•tion wit!, M.Attwell, t>ok m. -mh-> •:>":• «n.«f likely-looking j.m d A M Wi * >:! also pegged out -oui" 20 ae.-.'s In coarse of time surfaces ton •■ so 'i'lnns were sent down to the De.a tm m of Mines for analysis, Uip otficuii -ep- -i"t of which, n ruler date of Jn y 22. f on: the department, we fi.nl ({>■« tie following results: — Ass*y N*. 670 r "From stone picked off surface <>y ilr Attwell — Fine silver, l("hz lV.w «v r ton ; gold, a t^ace." Assay N^ •?"! : "Fine silv»M\ 13>z lOlwt; ?olu, tuicp."' Pievin is *o rhi-!, Invr ye* r> •• May 3), w> tinj th 1 r-fOil »f »a analysis mad.', also ffnin s-urfa-e stone — Assay N- . .320. Finn «nlve". 16oz 7dwt p-r to 1 ; s?oM. a t-ao«». These r«snits W \re x\\ o!>tai: e«l from surface »-ti>i». . An assay, however, of stone tiik^n f-ojii 'lie shaft of an aid copper mine •> 1 W>l ■»•••■ i's 20 acre lease, now belon^ing o U . v.-ird ulso Mk^n some montlis a o ai ! to be seen in rlie De[>.ir»me.:it tor MiV >. ,'ive 13^'Z silver, 19^.iwts of »^oUl por lon. Tbis is claimed. ri«»litly or won^lv, to '*• part and pstivel of the same lode, siuop then, out of the only place now worked, assays as biijh as 480-z per ton have been made, with lead existing as car'»K>nates in lari»»" quantities. The latest assays taken from s»ip«'rß-'ial stoi e g0 220z, 230z. 82 >z, 98 >z a.d 74o« j ot silver to the ton, with traces of gold everywhere, and a sl'^ht percentage of ronper. Limestone, too, an important ; ">i'»t, is easily obtaiuaWlc These rcp'tts have Ween su'is antiated by the most competent authorities. .fnd^in^ from the above fact?, one would naturally suppose the whole neighbourhood to '*» a d<cidodly silver I >eanng country. As yet, of cours** no mines arp really opened up. with the exception of some lit le work done fti Billyard's. A difference is s.»id to I exist l>etween the lodes at Sunny I Corner and Wiseman's Crrf k. Whii<* ! Snnnv Coiner ;\r* ti:*t I'ml^s, most ! likely fallen over from the main lode, i indications at Wiseman's Creek, it h I claimed, point to vertical or t; - u« lotleF. Should this pres.; <nption be corrpct. i silver exists at all it exists in qnaii- ! lities wellnigb inex'usJstiMe. Wi»a f . : class of silver ores will be found below 1 the surface it is of course impossible t<> ! predict, l»«it specimens wonld seem to ■ indicate what is known as " Fahlertz, r "neb as found iv the Haiti Maintain* in Gerinatiy, and which have bo^i ' worked for generations. Tlt i re is on ' di^tincc ra:i<j^ direct at Wis-mun? Creek, broken by the crt>-k itself, an I ; going up again on theotli j rs!«3e. runn- ' ing almost due north and south, whic 1 ' contains surface gossans and iudica. I tions all along. It is needless to say ' that all this gronnd has been taken up, and even farther ahead, for miles distant, another silver-bearing lode ! crops right np on the surface, about ! 12ft wide, which looks remarkably ! well. All this goes to bear out tb^ natural inference that it is a wide silver range. Of coursp that some leases will prove nchpr than others is evident, and that some little money must be lost i? also' evident. But taking everything iuto consideration, fortunes will without doubt be mad<?» and the balarce would spem to lie iv favour of fortunes as against failures. [ All said and done, the whole ventoic i is comparatively a l»>ap in tLe dark, as i without Aladdin's gift one is nnfortunj ately unable to see underground, and j to peer in the mysterious contents <>f mother earth. A continuation of tl^e same range is fount! soniPwhere near Slatey Creek, also an old copper work, bat rf this it is premature to say mor»*. i One thing seems certain, and that \S that companies and owners of abandoned, unprofitable, copper mines may take heart at % good prospect { opening np of their being able to dispose of their property on very advantageous terms The outcry has been raised that when silver contains much copper it cannot be treated. TK3 is a rather erroneous idea; for though the treatment is different, and somewhat moi-e expensive, still cuprous ores have been, it should be reraena* bered, successfully treated from time almost immemorial It is a feet to He borne in mind that it is not really necessary that in trder to »*» considered lodes of payable, balk must run 40oz or 60oz to the ton Both in America and Germany 7oz pays; adding on another Boz for dirterenco in price of lal>onr here, from 10o« to 20oz per ton, with proper appliances can doubtless be madrt to p«v Mnarkab'y wdl. But m yet w* «» but babies in the treatment of silvn • ore. Still, as the very latest appliances are so absolutely necessary to ultimate success, the utmost stress should be laid on the securing of the h*«t systems that skill and science have been able to produce. As it is, those who hare secured leases on Wiseman's Creek «ro uncommonly sanguine that while each dav brings fresh silver discoveries to light in New South Wales, the country in question promises to be as prolific in silver as any yet worked.